Bottle-capping device



E. M. LETTS.

BOTTLE CAPPING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.18, 1920.

Patented Dec. 27 1921..

f 2 I 20 I Q ELLSVfOR-TH Ill. 3

the provision one operating on the other, thereby greatly onirn TS, 833 'tVAVEPLY, NEW YGRK, ASSIGNOR 9F FOR'IY-NINE ONE- HUNDREAJTESTG GEAR-LE? C. ANNABEL, OF WAVERLY, NEW YORK.

BOTTLE-CAE'PING DEVICE.

Application filed August 18, .1920. Serial No. 404,335;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, ELLswonrH M. Ln'r'rs, a citizen of th United States, and residing at l Vaverly, 'lioga county, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Capping Devices, of which the following is a specification.

' The present invention relates to bottle capping tools for applying metal caps of the type having a corrugated flange adapted to be contracted around the top shoulder or head of a bottle.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a tool which requires little physical exertion to actuate the same so that it may be operated by women; to provide a tool which may be easily operated with one hand; and to provide one form of tool which is operated by grasping two handles in the hand and forcing them toward each other.

More specifically the invention consists in of a tool having two levers.

augmenting the force for applying the cap to the bottle.

Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent from the description taken in connection with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tool con structed in accordanc with the present invention showing the parts in the positions which they occupy when the cap has been pressed on the top of the bottle;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, parts being shown in section;

Fig. 8 is an end view; and c Fig. l is sectional view taken substantially on the line d-l ofl ig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the main member of the tool. he

clearly shown in Fig, 4, one end thereof is formed with a notch 11 which is adapted to receive the neck of abottle just below the shoulder 12 thereof, the shoulder preventing upward movement of the member relative to the bottle. The other end of the member is made in the form of a handle or hanc l3 and the lever la is disposed substantially parallel therewith and has a part also in the form of a handle or hand grip. Thus the lever handle 1% and the handle 13 of the member may be grasped by the ogerators hand, as indicated in 1, for the purpose of actuating the device. The lever 14 is what may be termed abent lever and, shown, is pivoted on a pin 15 carried by the mem- Specification of Letters Patent; Padggnted Der 27,1921.

ber 10. The member 10 is formed-with an aperture 21 extending through the same and the arm 22 of the bent lever projects up through this aperture and contacts and acts on a second lever 16. This latter lever is pivotedon a pin 17 carried by a pair of spaced projections 18 on the member 10.'

One end of the lever 16 carries a cap applying cup 19 and preferably this cup is hinged on the lever 16, as indicatedat 20, so that it may adjust itself during cap applying movement. The cap which this tool is adapted toapply is of the well known type having 'a corrugated flange adapted to be contracted around the head of the bottle so that it is simply necessary to force the cup 19 down over the cap, the rim of the cup acting to contract the corrugated flange on the cap and thus secure it on the top of the bottle.

lf the member 10 or the parts thereof enthe shoulder 12 'of the bottle are of ast 1ron or of similar hard metal it is found, if ther are any defects in the neck or the shoulder, that the neck will be broken or cracked According to the present invention this difficulty is eliminated. To this end, at least the parts of the tool engaging the shoulder 12 are constructed of a material which will not injure the same. It is found that aluminum is very satisfactory for this purpose. As shown, the legs 25 forming the notch 11 are provided on their upper surfaces withthe wear plates or pads 26 of aluminum, these plates being secured to the legs by screws 27. In order tohold the wear plates against lateral movement, as viewed in Fig. 3, the legs 25 may be provided with flanges 28.. In this case the screws 27 simply act as a means to hold the wear plates in position and do not take any substantial strain.

It will be observed, for the proper application of the cap to the bottle, it is desirable that the corners of the wear plates 26 engaging the shoulder of the bottle be definitely positioned with respect to the cap applying'cup when the latter is in its final position. With the present tool the plates 26 may be adjusted to and from the cup the insertion or removal of spacers or shims 29.

ll hen the edge-of the wear plates 26 bebe utilized lb is apparent that the life of.

nes mutilated or injured the wear plate,

the wear plate is considerable. The feature of wear plates and the provision of means for acting on the bottle without injuring the same are described and claimed in my c pending application Serial No. 4:01,939, filed Aug. 7, 19520.

In the operation or" the device a cap is placed on top of the bottle and the bottle placed with its n ch in the notch 11 of the tool, the tool being in one hand of the operator. New, by gripping the handles 13 and 14;, and forcing them together, the cup 19 will be forced down over the cap thus applying it to the bottle. The movement of the handle i l towarc the handle 13 thus turns the ent lever on its pivot 15 so that the one or the arm 22 swings the lever 16 in a counter uiocliwise direction as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2. It will be seen, therefore, that the present tool is constructed so that the actuating force is greatly multiplied so that no great 6X81t101l 1S required to operate the hurthermore, there is practically no breakage of ottles because of the particular structure of the parts oi the'tool which ene the shoulder on the neck of the bottle.

o A i) D IL in combination a member adapted to receive bottle can applying tool including a bottle and hold it against movement when the cap is applied, said member having a hand grip portion, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends on the upper side of said member and having a cap applying cup hinged at one end, second lever pivoted to said member in a transverse plane through but near the end of said first mentioned lever l5 with a part projecting from the pivot to l making slit contact with said first oned lever to swing the same and a handle extending from the pivot along r "d in the lone? udinal p ane of said hand Li whereby said hand grip and handle part sped in the hand to operate the he bottle, said actuating lever is part disposed substantlally posite the c the top of having a hand parallel with said member whereby said handle and member may be grasped by the hand and the handle moved toward the memher to operate the device.

8. A bottle capping tool including in combination, a substantially straight member having a depressed portion at one end provided with a bottle neck receiving notch and at its other end having a hand grip portion, spaced upwardly extending projections carried by said member immediately adjacent said depressed end and notch, a lever pivoted to said projections nearthe surface of said member and having a part with its lower surface extending upwardly and forwardly over said notch, and a part extending along said member toward said hand grip, a cap applying cup hinged to the end of said lever ov r said notch, and means carried by said member for applying upward pressure through sliding contact to the other end or said lever including a movable handle part adjacent said grip whereby the grip and handle part may be grasped by the hand to operate the tool.

l. A bottle cap applying tool including in combination, a member adapted to receive a bottle and hold it against movement when the cap is aoplied, said member having a hand grip portion, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends on the upper side of said memher and having a cap applying cup hinged at one end, a bent two-armed lever pivoted at its bend to the under side of said member, one arm contacting slidably with the other end of said first lever to swing the same and the other arm being disposed on the under side of said member and in the longitudinal plane of said hand grip whereby said grip and other arm'may be grasped in the hand operate the tool. I

5. A bottle cap applying tool including in co iibination, a member having a bottleneck receiving notch at one end thereof and an aperture through the same intermediate its ends,- the other end of said member being formed as an upper hand grip, a bent two armed lever pivoted at its bend to the under side of said member and having a short arm terminating with a point and extending upwardly through said aperture, the other arm being formed as a lower hand disposed in the longitudinal plane of the lirst grip,

a second lever pivoted intermediate said notch and said aperture on said member on the upper side of said member, one end of said second lever having a. cap applying cup pivoted thereon, the other end oii the second lever having an extension reaching beyond the pivot axis of said bend and having sliding engagement with said point on said short In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ELLSl VORTH M. LETTS. 

